Tortoise beetle volume 2

Continued from posting 1......

Since two weeks of observing this one beetle, it is rather difficult to know the origin of the tortoise beetle (a temporary name in observation) while the scientific name has not been found, as it was said in the first post that,

To find out its name, of course, will be very difficult if there are new objects that are seen, let alone new ones, so the crew or team is looking for information about this species in the library. Thanks to the team's hard work, one of the teams found information about the emergence of an insect species. His name is mentioned in non-verbal language, he is not mentioned in scientific language, maybe the discoverer has not finished observing his death so that the information is cut off, he was nicknamed by his discoverers in the 90s as "Turtle Beetle" and some people call it "Beach Beetle".

So, for the time being we gave his name as "Turtle Beetle" or "Beach Beetle"

Their presence at the end of this year is one of the additional scientific assets in the field of insects, meaning that experts have acquired new knowledge in following up on their presence in the insect world.

Current population

Their presence at the end of this year can only be found in certain areas, such as:

1. Weeds on the coast of Lhokseumawe
2. Saltwater river bank of the Cunda region
3. Seaside siren plant

While in the freshwater plain area the population is not found, it can be said that, so, this beetle lives where there are wild plants whose water capacity is in the form of salt water.
Although they often live near salt water, it is not certain that they are saltwater beetles. Although until now it has not been found on land containing fresh water.

Until now, and according to temporary information, the number is only in the tens, which is often seen in the tens of pairs that have not reached hundreds. Even so, their existence is always kept away from other beetles that live in their area as a host plant location.

As long as they see it during the day they have never done any activity, if traced they often stay on the green leaves without moving, at first glance it looks like a dead animal but when touched it will run to a closed location, usually they will run hiding behind a protected leaf sun.

Can walk on the water surface

In general, insects that live and nest in the leaves do not like water, and will always avoid splashes of water that affect their bodies, if it rains they will take shelter behind large leaves, in essence, they avoid their bodies from being drenched in rainwater. However, this tortoise beetle is very adept at above the surface of the water, sometimes it always floats on the surface of the water for hours. This activity is carried out based on his dislike of exposure to the hot sun which makes his body hot. The activity of floats on the surface of the water when there is a hot temperature, usually when it enters the dry season.

Although it is very common on the surface of the water but it is not one of the aquatic beetles that live and thrive on the water, one of the water-loving beetles usually in our area is called by another name in non-verbal material is "Lakoe Ie ".

Anatomy of turtle beetles

In the explanation of morphology, the beetle's body is divided into three parts, namely the head, chest and stomach. Likewise with this one beetle, it also has similar but different body parts, such as:

1. Its body is a bluish forest mixed with red.
2. Length 15-56 mm and width 5-33 mm
3. Has a protruding shell on the back
4. In the middle or chest of the beetle there are six legs and two pairs of wings.
5. Does not have wings like other flying insects.

In his body anotomy, there is one uniqueness found in his body, namely that he does not have wings that function to fly, but on the upper body there is a shell that resembles a turtle. You can see for yourself as seen in the picture.

Having a red body motif mixed with bluish black is one of the characteristics of the tortoise beetle that can attract someone's attention when viewed from afar, especially when exposed to sunlight, very bright glare, sometimes visible flashes of light dazzling human eyes. Especially when in the water, the light radiance is very clear when the subtle ripples of floating water shake her sweet body.

On each of the beetle's legs there are fine hairs that branch out, when when the feet are on the leaves it will stick very tightly to the fine hairs on the surface of the leaves on which it perches, if the beetle wants to and can also release them when desired move to another location. So that when the wind is blown, this beetle will not fall to the ground because of the force that combines the two body parts of the object.

Cannot see even though he has two eyes

According to the observations that have been made, this tortoise beetle has two eyes that stick out, transparent black, the shape of its eyes is different from the eyes of other insect species, its eyes do not have lenses that can capture light or any movement in front of it, so, we decided that, this beetle could not see like other insects.

Then how did he see

This tortoise beetle cannot see with its eyes, but it detects all light and movement through sensors located on two antennas and also uses its chest to detect sounds coming from its environment, making it more accurate at capturing both light, sound and signal and even movement originating from the environment around a radius of approximately 10 meters.

The cause of the eye dysfunction is not known with certainty, of course, apart from seeing the eye it can also be used for other jobs, but regarding this the accuracy of the data is still in the observation stage.

The difference in body function is very different from other insect species, and also several other behaviors that made the research team interested in it, so it can be said that it is a natural wonder in the insect world. For the team is very interested in exploring everything related to it, maybe in the next few weeks the profile and behavior will be known.

to be continue...